The pastor of a Florida church planning to burn Qurans told CNN Tuesday while the congregation plans to go through with the action to protest the September11, 2001 attack on the United States by al Qaeda, the church is "weighing" itsintentions.

The Church's founder, Terry Jones, said of the planned burning:

"We realize that this action would indeed offend people, offend theMuslims. I am offended when they burn the flag. I am offended when they burn theBible. But we feel that the message that we are tyring to send is much moreimportant than people being offended."Jones said Muslims are welcomed in the United States, if they observe theConstitution and don't try to impose Sharia law, or Muslim law. The message, hesaid, is directed toward the "radical element of Islam."Our message is very clear," he said. "It is not to the moderate Muslim. Our message is not a message of hate. Our message is a message of warning to the radical element of Islam, and I think what we see right now around the globe provides exactly what we're talking about," he said.

While Jones, and his church, have the Constitutional Right to do so as a part of the freedom of speech, that does not mean they should. Especially in light of what the US Military has to say about it:

Gen. David Petraeus, the commander in Afghanistan, said the burning of Islam's holy books "could cause significant problems" for American troopsoverseas."It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effortin Afghanistan," Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday.With about 120,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops still battling al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement, Petraeus warned that burning Qurans "is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significantproblems -- not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with theIslamic community."Petraeus said he was concerned by the political repercussions of the church's plan."Even the rumor that it might take place has sparked demonstrations such as the one that took place in Kabul yesterday," he said. "Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult."He said extremists would use images of burning Qurans to inflame public opinion and incite violence.

That should be enough to stop this. Again, while they have the right to do this, that does not mean that they should. Especially since it will further endanger US Troops...We all the have the right to say and do certain things. I once heard it put this way: "We have the right [to do stupid things], just like people have the right to make out in public. But doing so still makes you a social retard."

Jones, in response to the Military's warning, said the congregation is taking seriously the warning from the U.S. military that the act could cause problems for American troops.

"We have firmly made up our mind, but at the same time, we are definitely praying about it," said Jones.

As bad as Obama has been, there is nothing more destructive of theConstitution’s spirit and letter than burning the Koran - or any book for thatmatter. What this Reverend Jones is planning on doing is so antithetical toAmericanism that any red-blooded tea party patriot should be steaming at thevery thought that this glory-seeking preacher wants to besmirch our most sacredvalues by imitating Nazi brownshirts at their worst who piled high books byJewish authors at Nuremberg and set fire to them.

There is no difference - none - between the 50 or so members of theDove World Outreach Center and mindless Nazi drones if they carry through withthis plan.

My sole concern is with protecting the legacy of free expression in theUnited States - a legacy that would be damaged if we burn any book for anyreason. Why stop at burning the Koran. Why not move on to 1001 Arabian Nights?Or the diaries of T.E. Laurence? There are dozens of books that deal with theKoran and the Muslim faith, both fiction and non-fiction. If you want to make asymbolic gesture about Islam, why not torch those volumes too?

Moran has a great point. Book burning? Really? That does bring to mind fascist regimes of the past...

While I agree with the idea of sending a message to Radical Islam on 9/11/10, book burning is not the way to do this. Book burning is neither right, Christian, or American.

People from all walks of life in the US should protest this. Republicans, Democrats, independents, Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc...

10 comments:

I commented on this at Shaw's blog James but I'll leave one here also.

The damage has been done by these religious kooks. I think book burning or flag burning is a stupid form of protest meant more to grab attention and piss people off than anything. But I support their right to act like morons in the name of free speech.

And who in his/her right mind thinks "they're" going to hate and want to kill us more after this than now? We are occupying a country that is no threat. It's leadership that we approved of is a bunch of corrupt thugs. And this is going to make "them" hate and want to kill us more?

"Why did BHO defend the imam's right to 'religious freedom'"--Susannah

Building a community center will not endanger our troops around the world. General Petraeus and the Secy. of Defense, Robert Gates, stated unequivocally that what Jones wanted to do would imperil the lives of our military men and women all over the world.

As CiC of the military, President Obama had an obligation to speak out against an act that would hurt our men and women in the military.

Where is BHO on Mr. Jones' First Amendment RIGHTs?

Mr. Obama said nothing against Jone's First Amendment rights, he rightly spoke up and warned Jones about the consequences of that particular act that is protected under the Constitutions.